sitting in with us, and chris hedges also with us. this is democracy now!, our six- hour special, and we welcome stations to our broadcast. the polls are closing, including in the key swing state of virginia, and both president obama and mitt romney are claiming they have enough votes to when the weight house -- the white house. polls have just closed in pennsylvania, in michigan, missouri, illinois, massachusetts, in maine and north dakota, and the latest projections showed president obama winning vt., while mitt romney has won georgia, indiana, kentucky, west virginia, and south carolina, they say. abc news is reporting joe manchin is reported to win reelection against the republican businessmen. that is what we know so far,

and, yes, the networks have also called vermont for president obama. in a moment, we are going to go to vermont. they have also called the race for governor, and peter there will return it -- retain his governorship, and also, independent senator bernie sanders of vermont has won reelection. a longtime labor, racial justice, an activist and columnist, the founder of the black radical congress, this is going to be a a long evening, bill. what are you looking for tonight, and what have you observed so far? >> well, what i have observed and what worries me are the electoral manipulations that are taking place. i was listening to the tail end of your last guest, and part of

what i have been thinking about is that one of the dangers that we face is the continuous erosion of democracy that we have been at with 30 plus years. it seems to be hiding. there is a combination of the citizens united decision plus the desperate move by the republicans to thwart the will of the people, and i find that actually quite -- quite frightening. one of the challenges is that at a certain point, regular people will be completely discouraged from participation in what they seem to be politics, and one of your guests was talking about backing away from electoral politics. that would not necessarily be a victory. that could lead to a situation of massive apathy, and apathy never helps progresses.

>> the issue of prison policy in this country, bill. if you could address this? >> prison policy? >> criminal justice system. >> in the current situation, we have got to put all of this in historical context in general, democracy in the united states has been a good idea. it is not exactly far from condi -- gandhi. part of this plays out in the climate of incarceration. it has been used most recently as a way of dealing with a large, redundance population, a large, redundant work force,

which the system does not need and instead warehouses them. certainly, there is an element of greed and privatization, what is being described as a prison industrial complex, but the other thing is it is a way of dealing with huge numbers of people that the system cannot figure out what to do with. the jobs of many of the people currently incarcerated, those jobs are not there. they are not in the major in rural areas, or they may have moved overseas, or they may have downsized, so what do you do in some of these places, like camden, new jersey? east st. louis? some of them than have been industrialized, and there is a

massive unprecedented growth of incarceration. >> this just in. cnn is reporting that president obama will win connecticut, delaware, the district of columbia, maine, three out of four electoral votes. romney will win oklahoma, in addition to what we have announced so far. we are going to turn and go to vermont, where we are joined by david, an independent journalist. he also happens to be my brother, but it is the first state in the country, vermont, that has been announced as going into the obama column. david, welcome back to democracy now!. it did this not happen in 2008, as well? >> yes. hi, amy. vermont was called within moments of polls close in, leading many of us to wonder

what the methodology was, but in any case, we did just get the first numbers, and that is why happened with 2% of the precincts, with 70% obama and 28% romney. cbs has also called the races here for senate for senator bernie sanders. this is his reelection to the second term, and for the governor, and also the congressman peter.

you are priced out of the market because there is no cap. there is no control, so because of the corporate state, and they exploit until exhaustion or collapse, human beings are commodities, the national -- natural world is a commodity.

there will be a response. i do not think obama has got to blame he should have for shutting down and kamins. it told us that the state would only speak to these movements with force. we just saw places like portland, ore., peaceful demonstrators meeting with militarized police units in kevlar, dressed in black. that means something is coming. what frightens me is we have a potential for that backlash to be very disturbing a right-wing backlash, and along with the paralysis continues, and history has certainly borne this out in other situations, the more you find a more retrograde elements, they will align themselves with the radical right as a way to safeguard their position. we have already seen them put

money into the tea party and the christian right and into people like newt gingrich, and so something is coming. my fear is that those of us who come out of a kind of left-wing populism have been so utterly disempowered now that is going to be easier to channel that responds through these kinds of fascist movements. >> i agree with everything he just said, but if i can just add a point there, in addition to the corporate and financial elite, what they have been doing, they have been doing two fundamental things that are designed to permanently disempower the folks that you were talking about. one is the voter suppression, and can you imagine if the democratic party with the black president was making a deliberate effort to prevent white people from voting, could you imagine what the outcry would be in this country, and

that outcry would be warranted, but we need something like that outcry now based on what is going on. they are trying to take away your voter rights with suppression. they are also trying to and in a great extent succeeding, destroying labor unions and the labor movement. this is where your economic rights are protected. these are efforts that are designed to permanently disempower everyone who would dare to object to the corporate elite. >> the nemesis of the chicago teachers union was the democratic establishment, rahm emanuel. >> i do agree with that. i think it is a mistake, it is obviously a mistake to think that this is only something coming from the right or from the republican party. >> i want to bring this into the conversation, juan, while you

are at home. those that participate in politics, can you talk about what is happening right now? we have a number of polls closed. among them, florida, a state of keen interest to you. >> some of the stuff that they were talking about. that is clearly a swing state that romney had to win. the numbers, an increasing share, it shows romney with a slight lead. this is is shown that obama is winning florida. they have not declared that. those coming out of the polls, 52% to 48%, they are for obama. and romney, he would then have

to have whatever is left, including ohio. obama is going to squeak out a victory in florida. that would really possibly have meeting. i think in terms of the issue of what chris and bob have been talking about, i think the occupy movement, to some extent -- to some extent, it really did backbone to the democratic party to make the fight for taxing the rich against the 1%. it gave the obama campaign the realization that, yes, they could possibly hobble together a winning combination by a populist campaign. my fear now is the fiscal

cliff, where there is going to be immense pressures on obama and on the democratic party to make all kinds of concessions in an effort to build together a budget, a financial budget, and i think that is where the issues are on social security and medicare. that is going to come right away, and one of the problems is what all americans are facing. a tax increase. for the last two years, what president obama worked out with the republicans was a cut in the payroll tax of 2%. everybody is paying 2% less.

i am sorry -- bill and >> go ahead, juan. >> bringing back that to% of payroll tax to all americans or sacrificing in some form of adjustment or a reform, i think that is going to be a big issue. as soon as this election is over, even if obama is victorious, there is going to be a major battle with the american workers and that the american people will have about this fiscal cliff. there is a lot of positives in terms of the labor movement waking up like never before to go out there in terms of candidates that will defend their interests. i am thinking of the president of the international transit union.

s.i.. one under 25 of the officers over the last several weeks into ohio. they came from new york and washington, into ohio, to really worked and organize passengers throughout the municipal areas of ohio to turn that vote out for the democrats in this election, e is a progressive labor leader, but he realized that there was such an attack in ohio and all of these states against labor that they had to unite, it really, the fact of having swing states makes it possible for political efforts on both sides to concentrate their energy to achieve an overall victory nationwide. >> jeremy? >> just to respond to what juan said and what bob said, there are two universes' in the world

of cable news. there is the liberal msnbc, which is basically like an obama for america campaign rally every day. >> msnbc, their slogan is lean forward. president obama slogan -- >> i actually think chris matthews might jump off a bridge tonight. but i punish myself, coming from a catholic family. i watched an entireour of fox news. the top news today was the new black panther. intimidating voters. and then there was a mural of obama in the school, and neil cavuto, there was a school in a predominantly african-american school, there was a mural that had a " of obama, and they had a quote from -- it was light voter

suppression on steroids. fox news. they are talking about this huge obama mural is, basically, it is the new black panther, and obama mural, with analysis by don imus. they are trying to scare white people from voting for romney. i am leaning towards romney, but there is this mural for obama. sure real law is coming down the pike. benghazi -- sharia law may be coming down the pike. and then there is a complete morally bankrupt character.

the point i am making is you have this alternative reality, where some on twitter are some my suicidal. i have been watching them. it definitely seems to be leaning towards obama. imagine the climate tomorrow when there as once a been -- once again been a coup in this country. that is what is existing in much of the mainstream discourse. romney as a candidate is somewhat viable only because of the hatred that these people have for barack obama. this man could not way to be a boy scout leader in massachusetts right now, but everyone is voting against obama. on the issue that chris is talking about, the occupy wall

street, civil liberties, drones, that stuff is like nonexistent in this world. you can understand why. look at all of this craziness coming from this cable news outlets. it is like osama bin laden is going to be president of the united states. that is what you get from watching. this is a powerful network. people actually feel like, oh, my god, this is serious business we are fighting. >> he is the author of a book, and he is a "nation" magazine correspondent, also a democracy now! analysts. we are also joined by the co- host of democracy now!, juan gonzalez, and another guest. bob. just to update people, for the u.s. senate seat for

connecticut, they have made a call. they made the balance that showed you could vote for ident obama and linda. we are going good to tampa, where judith brown is standing by, co-director of a project, a racial justice advocate. she is joining us from tampa, and florida has just closed their polls. what did you find? >> thanks for having me. it is an interesting day. a steady flow of people throughout the day. long lines that we saw in early voting. a number of concerns. the number one concern we saw across the state is what we might call the abuse of

provisional ballots. here in one county, voters coming out of the polling places saying that they did not get to vote by regular ballot. we have concern about that, because we know about 2008. they threw out about half of e ballots. real concerns. we have heard that in broward county and other areas, miami dade. we have concerns about whether or not those votes will be counted, and there was a handout across the country. ohio, the same issue. provisional ballots. using it as the default. in ohio, in particular, the

state was student. -- was sued. the same thing in franklin and hamilton county's. we saw a lot of people coming away saying they had to vote provisionally. there was a place in columbus. there were 50 people standing in line, 40 of those 50 came out having voted provisionally. you know, people not being on the list when they should have been on when they registered, and so we are really concerned about that. pennsylvania. this campaign of confusion around identification, the aclu won that lawsuit. earlier, i got a tax from someone who went to college with me saying that we are required

to ask for identification. she told them i am not showing it to you because i know i do not have to, but that kind of confusion leads to a real kind of question. at the end of the day after the election is close, we are going to be really having to deal with this mess and make sure that we have free, fair, and accessible elections and that we are pushing back on all of these voter suppression efforts that were passed by politicians trying to manipulate the laws for their own game. >> were you surprised by what you have seen? and do you think this is going to determine the outcome of the election? and this issue of voter suppression, how is this going to play out in the coming weeks right now? the crack down on the hours in ohio and the time that people could vote, to what you are

seeing in florida, to what we have seen really in a number of states around the country, pennsylvania, as well? >> at the end of the day, the big effort to suppress the vote, laws that were supposed to make it harder to vote and harder to register, i think the big plan of a systemic attempt, it backfired. i know from my own experience in maryland, waiting in line for early voting for seven hours. all of my friends in the civil- rights community said why did you not get that absentee ballots? i will tell you that the conversation in line in the aframerican community was about voter suppression -- in the

african-american community. this was some prompted -- unprompted by the civil-rights attorney standing there next to them. people waiting seven or eight hours in florida. it really shows that people know that this is important. there is a lot of -- a lot at stake. their message of defiance that they were not going to allow people to take their right to vote, and so i think that part backfired. we are concerned about the kind of efforts. to some extent, they were systemic failures, especially for the training of poll workers. we have been working on this issue all long time, so that is quite disappointing that here we are having this problem with provisional ballots again. >> the networks are projecting

that president obama has won new jersey, and i wanted to ask our residential new jersey resident about the significance. chris? >> chris, ask you where you really stand? what you really think? >> i voted for jill stein, and in every other election, i voted for ralph nader. it seems to me that these campaigns of voter suppression in these four or five crucial states which are up for grabs, most of the other states are predetermined, like massachusetts or new jersey, and there, the republicans clearly intended to cheat. to stand seven lines -- seven hours in line to vote in florida, i voted in minutes in new jersey.

i think they do not want us to vote, and i think that is about -- the labor party in germany never pull was more than 5%. you had a three-party run in canada. -- have a three-party run. saying what they did, really in the political wilderness, because time is running out and because we have to build parallel systems of power, i think it is important. >> i went to bring you back into

the conversation with our commentator. where do you see, if there is an obama victory, as many are predicting right now, just looking at the numbers, what do you see are the most critical issues for people to organize around? hal owen do you see president obama? closing guantánamo, did not close. @ronmentalists voted for him. he fully to copenhagen and scuttled meaningful climate change agreement, and in the debate company -- neither he nor mitt romney raised the issue of climate change, and neither did the debate moderators. on the issue of human rights, deportation of immigrants, more than any president in history, and he has gone after whistle-

blower is more than all presidents combined, charging some with espionage as we do with espionage. >> two things. first, i want to back up a second. with all due respect to chris, what i think is really important for people to understand, when we hear that voters are standing in line for two, three, four, seven hours, particularly in the african-american community, understand is the nature of the attacks onma has not only been deeply irrational, they have been so deeply racist that virtually every black person that i know that self identifies as black sees those attacks as personal,

deeply personal, and i do not know if everyone gets that. when trump gets on television and says that a challenger for president on his school record, i feel like he is talking to me. when sarah palin mocks the president in her language, i feel like she is talking to me. and i know that there are countless other african- americans who feel that deeply. the ambiguous relationship of the african-american community to the presidency, even when people have disagreed with the president on a number of policy issues. this intensely ractack on obama is something that has led many of us to say that there is no way that we will tolerate

this. this has very profound strategic impact, which goes to your point. it seems to me that part of what we have to look at is that many of the progressive social movements simply gave obama a pass. i think that there was a situation, the situation with obama, it was actually very similar when franklin roosevelt was elected. roosevelt came in as an anemic democrat. he did not come in as a champion of working people or anything else. he was there to preserve the system. obama, and we knew this from 2008. he was there to preserve the system. that is his job. he is the head of the empire.

now, the question is, what will he be forced to make with the kind of existence of other parts of the ruling elite? that is what worries about face. capitalism. he ran almost immediately into an intense attack from other segments, who said he was making too many concessions, and the difference is there were social movements, unemployed workers, etc., that rose up and felt -- forced was about to be more than he intended to be. -- that forced roosevelt to do -- to be more the challenge we face right now, assuming and if obama is reelected is that this simply cannot be this notion of a honeymoon.

there cannot be this notion of giving space. there cannot be this notion of who is going to get this job and that job. we need to be marching on washington almost immediately on issues of jobs and war. we have to be doing this. hopefully, we learned lessons from eight years of clinton. movement after movement. just because he could play the saxophone. or they deferred to obama for the last four years and were afraid to attack him. it seems to me that we learned those lessons. we have got to go forward, particularly on the issues of the environment and war and peace. >> bob? >> i want to say to juan, feel

better. how so many african-americans feel about obama. earlier this year, and i was paying close attention and writing about it. early this year, there was fairly widespread disappointment in the black community with president obama. a lot of people felt that he had not fought hard enough on employment issues. it was perceived, i think ri that he went out of his way to avoid any reference or connection to racial issues, that there was a task force on the white house. very little mention of poor people, etc., and a lot of people would say to me, we wish you were stronger. so they were disappointed, and i thought in terms of the presidential election, that might result in a depressed turnout. he was on the going to get 90%

plus. it was seen as a personal attack. it grew and intensified. even though the policies had not changed, they were assessing him at change, so where someone may have said in january or february, well, i wish he were stronger. he seems kind of week. by summer, they were saying, "i think he has done a hell of a job." the reason he has not got more done is because republicans are

standingngn his way. and then it was, no matter what our complaints are, we are going to rally around and protect this brother because we are not going to have this out there, and i think that is being reflected in the turnout numbers tonight, however it that those. >> senator nelson from florida has been reelected, succeeding connie mack. romney has taken georgia and tennessee. if romney wins, he would be the first president, a record turnout in massachusetts. 73%.

this is a wrestling magnate of connecticut. there has been a projection in the connecticut senate race. voting in virginia will continue until 11:00 p.m. eastern standard time. we will turn to ohio. the 25th district in the greater cleveland area. can you tell us what is happening? >> good evening. the president is winning the state of ohio. mostly absentee ballots. absentee, 2-1.

huge hurdles to surmount. it does not make any sense in the 21st century. we had a secretary of state that decided to appeal all of the way to the supreme court for the voters to have the last three days of early voting. i am so happy that court after court, judge after a judge ruled against him in favor of the voters, and ultimately, the supreme court rejected his bid. there were thousands of people standing outside in the cold, in the rain, with their children, their grandmothers, sisters, brothers, all ethnicities and genders, to exercise their right to vote but for a president. we would not have had the last three days of early voting in the state of ohio.

>> the significance of ohio? >> obviously, the turnout has been huge in ohio. the way i look at it, it is true that the democratic party and even the democratic party with an african-american as president can address these working-class issues in a way that is politically successful. i think the party has made a mistake for many years now -- one, i think they made a mistake by not addressing these bread-and-butter issues of employment, jobs, labor organizing, and that sort of thing and fighting for working people, and then the other thing i think they have made a mistake on was registering even more people to vote.

i think there should have been much more organizing. ohio shows this sort of thing can be successful. it is a middle american-type state. if you get to the issues that are important to voters, and the issues important to voters are jobs and opportunity, then you can make it. @>> jeremy? >> there was the romney attack ad that was proven to be fraudulent about jobs being shipped to italy and ultimately to china. it spectacularly backfired, and the obama campaign was able to capitalize on that. prior to that advertisement, the republicans were trying to run on this idea that ohio was the light at the top of the hill for republicans. it was state power, and they

were succeeding against all odds. and just like romney lobster them a softball. if you look at what they were saying in ohio, they hammered on the automotive stuff. it was popular with a lot of automotive workers, and jobs were created because of it. in the world of conventional politics, big corporate money coming in, just to look at it from a purely analytical point, the ronny folks just shot themselves in the foot. the other thing would be massive voter fraud or tampering. it was really self destruction in the end in ohio. >> i do not think you can for all of the voters all of the time. i do not know if lincoln said that or not. it turns out to be true. >> unionized workers were making $76 per hour, were reduced to 50, and the companies were allowed to hire new workers at $14 an hour. >> that is where the movement

comes in. >> this was another democratic assault against labor, and build into that bailout was a provision that said if you go on strike, that money has to be repaid. there is at once a bailout of big corporate interests coupled with a destruction of working men and women who work for those corporate interests, and i think that one can justify the eplf, but one cannot justify what the obama administration did to the uaw. >> what they did to the uaw was part and parcel of the administration's approach to labor issues in general. >> it can you explain? what exactly what romney put out, the jeep advertisem that chrysler would and all production of jeeps, and then

chrysler said, "we are not closing our factories here. we are making jeeps in china for china. we are not closing our factories here." >> that is an embarrassment, when you have companies come in and give truth to the lie that is being spread. there has been no place for a fellow like romney to hide. >> romney said, "let it go bankrupt." that was devastating. >> it would not just tab in bankruptcy and reorganization. they were on the verge of a liquidation. those jobs were going to vanish, and then all of the jobs that depended on it. >> i want to go back to someone speaking to us from the greater cleveland area. the effect that the and add have -- that the advertisement

had. certainly pre obama and mitt romney have spent a great deal of time in your state. >> the state of ohio is the swing state of swing states, because we have the commercial bruises to prove it. certainly, governor romney calls to -- caused a lot of fear. i called it a fear mongering, particularly among some when that advertisement went out. it did cause a backlash in the state of ohio, and to lie, to flat out lie. he flat out lied. he has proven himself to be the kind of politician who will say and do anything to become the president of the united states, and in some point -- at some point, the voters understood that. no matter how we interpret the lifeline the president gave to the automotive industry, it had a positive impact on ohio.

one out of every eight jobs on linked to that industry, so it has been very good in the state of ohio, and i believe that the citizens of the state are going@ to remember and stand by him. to a point you made about standing up for the middle- class, we went through that exercise last year, which tried to take away collective bargaining rights. the voters showed the gop what they felt about that overwhelmingly. 88 counties, we had the majority of those 88 counties reject 60 bill 5. the democrats certainly have some building to do beyond the presidential election in terms of speaking up, speaking out, and creating policies that truly lived poor people and that helped the middle class stake in the middle-class. we need to focus in on that

after the election. >> i just wanted to interrupt for a second to see if we could bring in bernie sanders on the phone, because he is giving his acceptance speech. it will be a rough and scratchy thing, but this is history. >> bernie, bernie, bernie! >> they are chanting right now, "bernie, bernie, bernie!" he has just been reelected. >> are you still there? >> we are. we are broadcasting. >> bernie sanders has just finished giving his acceptance speech. the polls show him winning with over 70% of the vote. in his speech, he talked about taking back the country from millionaires and billionaires

who are receiving tax cuts at the expense of working people, and he said vermont with its three electoral votes would leave the country. returning democracy to the community. speech.s bernie sanders' an interesting thing we are seeing in the return is that a race here that has involved a super pak, the cpac candidates with the tea party backe candidate, oddly enough, the race for state treasurer, and while that may not seem like much, the previous governor of vermont was elected from being state treasurer -- anyway, this is a super pak where a single woman, the heiress to the montgomery ward fortune, backing tea party candidates around the country, she happens to live in

burlington, vt., she decided this year with the advent of citizens united to essentially buy an election. and that was to install a tea party candidate in one of the offices, that being state treasurer, and it is extraordinary whatever spending could do. it has been virtual carpet bombing of the print and broadcast media, and interestingly, the results, a number of state leaders, bernie sanders, others, they have been going around the state railing against the effort to buy the election. what can a super pak do? what can unlimited resources do? and one congressman also meeting with 7% of the vote, peter, he said never underestimate what somebody coming in with $1

million in a place like vermont or new hampshire can do. the result readjusts seen is that the super pak candidates is being routed. by 10 points. that is very interesting. >> david, we want to thank you. peter. bernie sanders. and nina turner, if you are still on the line, if you could talk about -- she is no longer there. but we have an update now. as we move to the top of the hour. yes, polls are closing at 9:00 p.m. eastern standard time in more than one dozen states, including arizona, colorado,

kansas, michigan, new mexico, new york, colorado, louisiana, michigan, minnesota. i am said a few of them already. polls have already closed including in the battleground states of ohio and virginia, but those are too close to call. the latest from the networks they are now projecting wins for romney in alabama, arkansas, oklahoma, tennessee. obama is expected to take delaware, illinois, massachusetts, delaware, maine, and rhode island. they are calling new jersey for barack obama. chris murphy appears to have beaten the republican wrestling magnates linda mcnamera --

mcmahon. one of the most closely watched senate races, nbc news is calling the massachusetts senate race for a elizabeth warren over scott brown. i am going to go back to that point. this is the network calling the race for elizabeth warren over scott brown. let's turn to massachusetts for our next guest. >> this is an interesting race because scott brown was deciding -- was trying to run away from mitt romney and the extremists and in a lot of republican platform. i want to bring in a republican guest to works with the american

civil liberties union and has been monitoring house some of these issues have played out. kate joins us from massachusetts. tell us the situation in massachusetts right now and how it impacts if it is true elizabeth warren has won these issues? >> i wanted to quote jones who sent a tweet about how difficult it has been to vote for people in virginia as well as florida. let's see if i can find it. he talks about -- he says in virginia and florida people are waiting hours to vote. they have kept the polls open in virginia, and he said its should

not take this kind of heroism to vote in america in 2012. stay in line. we have just gotten this news of a network calling the race in massachusetts for a elizabeth warren over senator scott brown. the significance of it if it is true? >> it remains to be seen. on the issues i work with, civil liberties union relating to homeland security and the fbi, the militarization of the local police department, on all of these issues, and not just a presidential campaign, but also the senate race in massachusetts was silent on all of these issues. the candidates were not asked to debate questions relating to civil liberties or privacy.

they largely did not bring them of themselves, and the few occasions in which the candidates were asked questions about the issues, they largely ducked them. brown was not proud of his record in terms of voting to authorize wiretaps in the patriot act, but there is a blank slate in these issues. some of the most important issues facing our nation right now, which is about restoring their rule of law, we have seen a real erosion of fundamental @american principles of justice over the past seven years, and elizabeth warren will have a number of opportunities to change that.

she is going to have an opportunity to vote on that bill. the gps act would require a law enforcement simply get a warrant before it attracts -- it tracks our location. there are going to be drone's legislation coming out to regulate the way law enforcement is going to be spying on us from the sky. there are a whole host of issues that have been kept out of this entire election cycle here and in massachusetts and nationwide. >> you have been working on issues surrounding the scandal of the boston police department @and spying on activists as well as federalization of local law

enforcement. we only have a brief amount of time, but maybe you could talk about those issues and how they relate to the big picture of what has been debated over power militarization of law enforcement, spying on dissidents in general. >> we published a report called the leasing -- policing defense, which has blown the lid off a scandal. the boston police department has been spying on the peaceful activity of antiwar groups and peace groups in the city of boston. this is a major story in boston and unfortunately did not make it to the level of the statewide political race as far as the warren brown contest was concern. that is unfortunate, and that

has to change. we saw with the occupied movement, i like to refer to it lifting rocks that showed the unseemly side of what has been going on. you really saw police departments, advanced equipment deployed at largely peaceful protest groups. this problem is getting worse. they will continue to fund the police departments for their federalization as they seek to become local police officers that reply to crime and increasingly like intelligence agencies. a elizabeth warren is going to be faced with a lot of these questions, and certainly the president is going to be faced with those questions, too, but

to say to everybody of their possibly thinking, it does not issues, wen thiese can take action of the local level. i would encourage you to go to my website. you can take action in your local community to push back against some of this really dangerous radicalization. >> let me go to charles pierce, who is joining us from fort lauderdale, but he is from boston. can you give us your perspective on this race. nbc is calling it for a elizabeth warren. we cannot confirm that, but your take? >> i do not pretend to be objective. i think elizabeth warren has the potential to be a great united states senator. she learned to be an electoral

politician on the fly and got better and better and better, and she was aided by the fact that scott brown ran probably the dumbest campaign i have ever seen. get her message has been about the crushing of the middle class and the power of the financial institutions. that is where she made her national policy. >> the major issues she focused on? >> she focused primarily on what she calls the tricks and traps on the back of your credit card bill. the not entirely too close but semi toothless dodd-frank -- not entirely toothless but semite toothless dodd-frank. >> we are now joined by the newly reelected senator who is

at his victory rally in vermont. congratulations on your first reelection as the independent senator from vermont. >> thank you very much. >> we were just hearing nbc news has predicted your neighbor in massachusetts may be a elizabeth warren. they are predicting a win for a elizabeth warren over the current senator, scott brown. your comment on this? >> i have known elizabeth for many years, and elizabeth is one of the smartest people i know. i believe she is not just going to be another senator. i believe she is going to be a great senator. i believe she is going to be a progressive voice not just for massachusetts for all of america. i was campaigning for her common-law and i am overjoyed

that she is going to make it, because we really need her. >> what do you see as your mission right now in the second term as senator from vermont? >> i will tell you what the immediate mission is, and that is when congress reconvenes, it is going to be a lot of discussion about the fiscal cliff and deficit reduction. you have virtually every republican and some conservative democrats who want to lower tax rate for the wealthiest people in the country and cutting social security, medicare, medicaid. i think that is insane. i think that is unacceptable, and we have got to rally the american people. we have to do deficit reduction, but also the wealthiest people are doing fundamentally well. it is time for them to start paying their fair share of taxes

and to stop enjoying the loopholes. there are ways to balance the budget without attacking people who are already hurting in the middle class. >> we have bob herber here. he has a question for you. good >> senator, congratulations. i am hoping to ask what ordinary people can do. we have the politics of austerity coming with this fiscal cliff. what can ordinary individuals or families do to make their families known or perhaps have some influence on members of congress? >> that is a great question we have been working night and day on. the republicans and some democrats are prepared to go vote. i think the american people need

to get up and say it now. they need to get on the phone and call their senators and say, sorry, social security have nothing to do with deficit. we are not going to cut medicare and medicaid and other important programs. it cannot the austerity on local -- on working families. we are going to continue working that fiscal austerity does not affect working families. >> democracy now has a question for you as well. >> you were just laying out some of the major battles you were going to have on capitol hill with the republicans. what about the battle many have been waging against the obama

administration for this president's extension of some of the worst excesses of the bush era, the killing of u.s. citizens without trial, the drone bombings in pakistan, yemen, somalia, and basically the entire counter-terrorism efforts expanded when you look at these coverts operations. what is your response to this administration. >> i have been more critical of the president than anyone else. i do not know what the results are going to be. if the president wins, i hope he wins, but most people have got to tell him he has got to stand for policies we can be proud of

in domestic and policy. that requires grass roots to say, we elected you. stand with us, not with wall street. i am going to have to go now. >> thank you very much. bernie sanders, he has just won reelection for his senate seat. the former mayor became senator and has just been reelected. this is democracy now, our s hour special election coverage, and we are joined by a number of people. we are also joined by laura flanders, a columnist, chris hedges also with us. the former new york times reporter who works with the

nation magazine as well, and weo is convalescing at home in washington heights in manhattan after a back operation. juan, it is interesting. we just heard nbc has predicted a elizabeth warren has beaten scott brown, the republican. elizabeth warren would be the democratic senator from massachusetts, and nbc news is calling pennsylvania for president obama also democrat bob casey is projected to win senate reelection in pennsylvania, and ap has called the wisconsin raise for tammy baldwin. cnn predicts republicans will maintain control of the house. we will go to sarah made next.

ju -- to jeremy next. juan? >> i think the republicans will gain some seats, which means the gridlock will continue. it even if obama wins, there will be considerable gridlock in congress and pressure to make concessions to get things done in the government. the key thing to remember, what ever happens, even if president obama does get reelected, the progressive movement cannot waste one day thinking there will be major changes that occur through what happens in washington, and there has to be an immediate commitment, not allowing folks to be coopted

from change from the top, so pressure from the government, and not only the federal government but state and local government to affect fundamental changes in the way our society functions. i think too many people in the first year or two of the obama administration thought a significant amount could be accomplished to us by electing a president, and i think it has always happened, whether it has been made oral races or gubernatorial races, the progressive movement gets disarmed every day whether it has been -- whether it has been mayoral races or gubernatorial races, the progressive movement gets disarmed every day. as i mentioned earlier, this whole battle with the fiscal

cliff at the end of december and the need for all sides to agree@ on a long-term budget, it is going to face all of us immediately. >> it could be the battleground states are going to go one by one to president obama. we have just heard pennsylvania has just voted for president obama, and that was also announced by fox news as well. florida and virginia were supposed to close their polls, but they will apparently keep them open until 11:00, which means there are lines of people simply trying to vote at this point, and i wanted to turn to jeremy on this news that has just been announced in wisconsin. this was tammy baldwin taking on the four-term governor, tommy

thompson. >> i have known tammy baldwin since the early 1990 costs. around the time i met her when she was serving as a state representative representing madison, she was a progressive local politician. i was also thrown out of the government not -- the governor's mansion by tommy thompson on immigration issues and issues that had to do with his welfare reform. he was like a machine politician in wisconsin who was also bush's health and human services secretary and pushing the end >> threat region -- pushing the anthrax threat. the fact that he came back is mystifying to some people, but tammy baldwin is going to be the first openly gay woman a elected to the senate, and she is a

pretty aggressive politician. i have had debates with her over the years. generally speaking, she is from the ross fine gold school of politics, which coming off of ron johnson, tammy baldwin is replacing basically an old fogy politician. his slogan was, and nobody's senator but yours. >> she is a colleague of congressman paul ryan. >> paul ryan is on the ballot because he was not willing to go into the game, and we do not know what will happen with his local scene. he is trying to retain his congressional seat. we sought an unreal crackdown on the rights of workers to collective bargaining to

organize the state of wisconsin. you have people who suffered tremendously. as i said earlier, both of my parents were nurses. the war on organized labor in the state of wisconsin has massive impact on the rest of the nation, so i think the idea that tammy baldwin won this race instead of tommy thompson really represents a push back, largely from organized labor and working people that have really taken it on the chin by scott walker and under the broader policies of the obama administration, it has been a one-two punch, but this is a real push back for labor. for tammy baldwin, an openly gay woman who has been very outspoken on social issues and national security i think is a pretty big step forward.

tommy thompson would have been like going to the stone age in a lot of ways. >> we are joined by it laura flanders. it is great to have you with us. >> it is great to be here. i feel like i should be at a former new york times reporter recovery zone. it is interesting these races have been announced. >> let me say something to be clear. this stuff trickles out, and we do not have the ability to figure out these races ourselves to figure out what the polls are. chris says, i do not see anything that elizabeth warren will win. the boston globe says elizabeth warren with 17% reporting. right before the polls closed, scott brown was predicted.

the atlanta acquirer -- inquirer is predicting a elizabeth warren is the winner. nbc news is projecting yes to the california question no. 3, which is on medical marijuana. >> there are so many things to talk about. washington post apologized for prematurely saying elizabeth warren would win. >> let's talk about the tammy baldwin victory. that was hugely significant. all of us remember her role at the center of support for community uprising against scott walker, and when you combine that kind of pushed back of so many of us witness and her courageous position of that in the sense of aligning herself with not just the trade unions, who have showed up with tremendous support on her behalf, but also grass-roots

groups, but young gay and lesbian organizations that got under covered in their role but played a big part. she is somebody who has been debated in this race. the propaganda groups tried to pick up on video she recorded on gay pride day and say, what an enforcer of trends gender behavior she is. she stood up and said, i am for defending the rights of the vulnerable to fight back, whether it is defending when men, -- defended women, maintaining a means of negotiating, or whether it is

the right to beat a gay or lesbian person in this world. she has been a fighter. -- whether it is right to be a gay or lesbian person in thi world. she has been a fighter. people remember her role with the tarp bailout and her role that she would head of the consumer protection board. >> i want to say ap is retracting. that is interesting. >> there seems to be confusion. ap started calling it for baldwin. they have said they have not officially called a for tammy baldwin and it is too close to call. this often happens. >> it does not mean we cannot talk about what this means. >> her popularity is largely that she is one of the people

who agreed to take on the bank said. it has been the most money spent in the history of america. is an extraordinary indictment of how little has changed when it comes to in balance of power and money. -- imbalance of power and money. you have 42% of the country's wealth in the hands of one or 2% of the people. in this particular case there is going to be a lot of celebrating that elizabeth warren of winds, -- that a elizabeth warren wins, but if she is the trail blazing voice, we do not just have a financial system in crisis. we have a financial system in

balance at the heart of what is wrong with our democracy, even if some wins eek themselves out. >> it was worse under obama then it was under bush. 65% of every dollar in profit and -- it is now 93 cents of every dollar in profit. it speaks to gross inequality, the rise of an oligarchic state , a feudalistic society that obama has not done anything to halt but has a accelerated. >> what would you say to the issue that they hit a brick wall under bush and that under obama of the wall turned into a door. the door opened a crack.

the question is with the door been kicked open corner and slammed shut. it is not up to him. it is up to people to keep open the door, and maybe they did not do it this time. this is the second time. >> you were talking earlier about the occupied movement. i thought that was a time to build on their momentum. the way the election seems to be going, if you have elizabeth if you lookng common and, at what happened in wisconsin or ohio, this is an indication a lot of americans are out ahead mainstream democrats.d@ when this election is over this is a time to have a second opportunity to give them an -- to get the movement over.

that is why it is important to develop leaders to build this moment. juan was talking about a fiscal cliff. one reason i think it is important -- >> nbc news has predicted president obama as the winner in wisconsin. >> a really important state. one reason it is important to try to keep a rock obama president is because even though i get -- to keep barack obama president is because even though i have disagreed with many of his policies, the alternative would result in so many people being hurt, so much additional suffering. there is already a lot of suffering, so you would like to maintain what we have got and begin to build on that. i think we could go back words and we would have more ground to

make up. i still think even with obama as president, he is going to try to make a grand bargain with republicans, which will result in harm to medicare, possibly social security, medicaid, and prevent us from making the same investments in education that are necessary, but i believe if romney was president the situation would be worse. the thing to do would be to develop that movement and move forward now. >> i am torn. i think a lot of what is said will continue to echo. there is no question there is a difference between the parties and candidates right now. at the same time, i am sympathetic about the argument that putting all of our efforts of the end of today into the electoral races that back one of

these candidates, we have watched the party moved to the right for decades. you and i after the election of barack obama had tablefuls of people saying they were going to hold a seat at the fire. mobilizeas first to holding the rock obama's feet to the fire? the occupied movement has become a mutual aid movement, which is invaluable. there is no question about what you have seen and what i have seen. it speaks to the premature declaration. >> you come from the zone where you have not had electricity. >> i can only imagine how people are managing to night. i think there is a meeting of

narrative's in the sense that the wisconsin results showed that they manage to create movements that supported and worked with a progressive democrat to bring out democratic voters in thision in a way that has no benefit to barack obama, and you can say there may be the roots of future progress of activism in a state that has a long history of third-party activity, the progressive party and so on. you have populist party and heritage and history in that state, and i think we hold these realities constantly in our minds as we look at these elections. >> i want to be clear, i am

deeply dissatisfied with what has come out of the obama administration and the democratic party. i think it is important to keep obama president, and when i talk about the movement, i am talking about a movement that is going to move beyond what obama and the democrats have been doing, and it would apply tremendous pressure to the politicians and office holders now, and i could not agree more that the idea of putting all of your efforts into a electing and reelecting the same folks is a fool's errand. i do not want to go back to the bush era for another four or eight years. i would like to move to the start of the obama era. >> multiple outlets are saying brown is winning his ohio see. he will head back to the senate now they are predicting.

all polls have just closed in arkansas. they remain open in nearly a dozen states including michigan. networks are calling the battleground state of pennsylvania for president obama, and fox news and nbc are now calling wisconsin for president obama. some of the states being called for romney include texas, louisiana, and nebraska. they are reporting republican roger wicker has won the senate race in mississippi. the democratic candidate has reportedly won in new hampshire, and cnn is reporting elizabeth warren is leading over senator scott brown in massachusetts, but they are not yet calling the race. we have also seen reports of chaos at the polls with massive

voting machine malfunctions and what voting rights are calling a purge of fraud. it still appears to have gone to president obama. florida voters with reports of broken voting machine, a ballot shortages, polling places being overwhelmed by voters, the race there is very tight end has not been called. florida is freakish we close. fiserv romney does not win all three of those, it becomes -- if romney does not win all three of those, it becomes mathematically different -- difficult.@ it is interesting ryan and romney appeared to have lost their home states.

florida and virginia appeared to be so close, even if they go to romney. >> we have gone through this, and it has not worked. we have to face the fact it is not working. at what point do we draw the line? it seems like for those of us who care about all sorts of issues and as a pre-emptive warnin, it is illegal. and we have no right to be in afghanistan or to be in iraq. at what point do we say a enough? the problem is there is . we keep retreating, and they keep taking more and more. i am talking about the corporate military surveillance state, so this argument that we really liked -- we reelct obama, we

have heard it bef it is not in our interest. >> i do not disagree about the factual situation. i think the time we should not have said enough was a long time ago. if we are going to start a movement now, i would rather see that movement start with obama in the white house and the senate in democratic hands rather than starting with romney in the white house and the senate in republican hands. that is the point i am making. >> it points soon and not a question of collaboration or fear. but if you were going to fight his reelection, the time to do that would be in the primary. i would have no objection to a

primary challenge. i do not even have an objection to your call of a third party. i used to be opposed of a third party. i think a third party might be essential. >> let me bring bill fletcher back with us in d.c., but i want to let people know that you are watching and will soon be reading democracy now. we are bringing new a six-hour election special that will probably end around 1:00 a.m. eastern standard time. you can join us on line. join the discussion from our facebook page, and you can join on switzer -- twitter. for the first time, you can

listen to our show live on your iphone, your ipad tonight. a couple of new results have come in. alan grayson, who was defeated last time, alan grayson has been projected a winner of his florida house race, and jesse jr. has been -- jesse jackson, jr. has been projected the winner of the house race. with all of this news, cbs is calling new hampshire for president obama. bill fletcher, your reflections at this moment. >> is the question is about drawing the line. i think it is about strategy. we talk a lot about drawing lines. we talked about disagreements

with different mainstream politicians. politics is about strategy, so it is not a question about if obama has nine done -- not done x, y, and z, the question is what are we capable of doing? otherwise this becomes a complete abstraction, and going back to something laura says, i do not know people who put all their time into the electoral politics. i know very few people to sink all of their energy into it. what i do know is a lot of people who stay away from the discussion of a long term electra roles strategy -- electorial strategy, or they

jump in, thinking that is a time to wave the flag and express moral outrage with all kinds of capital as politicians, rather than thinking what are the steps we have to take to actually win power? how do we build a movement that has an electoral arm that and dances in -- that advances the people? i am not into this thing about drawing the line. i am into the issue of strategy. we were thinking about the republicans did when they got their rear ends kicked, they had a long-term strategy to get into it. we are never going to have the money the republicans have. what we can do is start thinking about what are the steps we have to take, and one of those @involved a transformation in organized labor, a

transformation in labor unions so the labor unions are not sitting back passively and supporting this or that democratic candidates men are starting to advance on their own more political leaders who represent the interests of working people, so i think it is a different direction than chris is suggesting. >> building a third party is a strategy, and only 12% of the american workforce is unionized, most of those in public sector unions. on top of that, you have the labor heads pulling down five or 10 times, making lavish salaries. i think one problem in wisconsin is when there was a debate about the recall or client -- or calling a general strike, and now they should have called a general strike. what they did is redirected that strategy, but i do not think you could say -- building a third-

party movement is a strategy. good >> we have a long time tv host in new hampshire, a democratic nominee for governor in 1992. let me give you a few more results. cbs has just called new hampshire for president obama, and fox is calling indiana for the democrat joe donnelly over the republican state treasurer richard murdock. significant. richard murdock upset luger in the primary, but luger has given the cold shoulder, and democrats have expressed in as an extreme conservative and. the congress meant no donnelly has a strong chance to win the -- the congressman joe donnelly has a strong chance to win the

race, and it looks as though fox has called the race for the democrats showed donnelly, and fox news has called the race between wisconsin and tammy the seat of thetake retired senator. this news on obama taking new hampshire and all the rest you have just heard? >> i just heard you mentioning god's plan. god's plan is for women to get respect. what you are seeing across the country you are not seeing in new hampshire. we may have an entire team of women. our governor will be the only democratic candidate in the state. right now it is a close race

before the -- between the former congresswoman and the current congressman. we have the only republican, who is also a woman, and the message coming out of new hampshire is such a message to republicans in 2016. if you come to new hampshire and you are running for president, you had better not his soft women -- not piss of women. it is not as much about barack obama. the majority of voters are women, and they are looking at this country and children and the environment, and they are looking at health care, and they are saying it is not good unless you know how to invest in people who show respect and understand our lives and families, and in new hampshire who are seeing it. the other thing that is

remarkable, there is a possibility that our extreme speaker of the house may have lost his seat. there are districts the size of peanuts, and he is in a very republican district. i have heard the possibility he may have lost his own race, and that is such a repudiation of the last couple days. when they ask you to come on the air, national public radio aired now reinstate, blue stay. the first half was about politics in america, but the second half was about the state of new hampshire and what has happened in the last two years. we have seen an abuse of democracy. we have seen an abuse of power. we have seen a 3-1 republican majority that has trampled everything.

they are that extreme that in a conservative libertarian state like new hampshire, they actually blue people's minds with how they behave and what they expected of government, which is government that is going to be a tool and beat down to the public. the message coming out of new hampshire is incredibly powerful, but it is also a message given our bowdon role in politics that the republican party -- given our role in politics that the republican party had better rethink. >> you said it was conceivable that the house speaker o'brien would speak. he is in a district larger than the community of new boston, but new boston is where he hangs out. he just lost new boston. if that happens, it is more amazing than obama of winning.

it is such an incredible message to the tea party, the extremists, people who think they could trample people's rights and the public be damned. the message in new hampshire has not been about conservative government. it is about a government with one agenda and the public is not part of the conversation. that will not fly in new hampshire, and it cannot fly and the rest of the country. >> emily's list just sent out an e-mail saying that maggie will be the only pro-choice woman governor in the country. a comment on this as well as the latest on rupert murdoch. >> really, the only woman pro-

choice governor in the country? is 2012 and. this sounds like amazing news in new hampshire. this is such an interesting question, the question of throw- choice women in this election. -- of pro-choice women in this election. we have seen the democrats around august start remembering their most reliable base is pro- choice women, and they start talking about the threat to women's rights. we did see some of that. no question, we saw a democratic convention. with some of the insane comments coming from the republican side about legitimate rape and so forth. for republicans, and life begins at a rate, that is the feeling, but it is true this

administration has done tremendous change for women's rights, not just for reproduction, but also for the pay act right down to contraceptive coverage and health care reform. there have been some real advances for women under barack obama. there have been some setbacks, too. we saw that most women wanted around single payer and reproductive choices and a variety of sorts was -- >> catholic women. >> that includes catholic women. the democrats lost white women since 1992. they have always had since the late 1980's a gender gap benefiting them, but the invented has been made up

largely of women of color. this might be a difference. we are seeing in ohio one of the things that is helping barack obama, he may be losing white male voters. he is gaining women voters. there is so much at stake. really, i think this election is about the question of person heard, who counts as a legitimate person in america. @is it a fetus, a corp., a woma, a young person, a person of color trying to vote? who has standing? this takes us back to the gilded age, which is the last time we had a discussion like this. it was during the 1980's you saw a number of decisions cited when it comes to supreme court decisions. it was at that time when we saw

the first criminalization of abortion that had been more or less legal in every state, including in the 1980's. what other things do we have in common with the gilded age? of racier, a fear that white women were not reading enough, that people of nouri did not reading and not, that people of color were going to take over. -- a feeling that white women were not breeding enough, the people of color were going to take over. a much bigger conversation is happening in this country, and with the question of reproductive rights are economic, and we have seen nobodies' wages drop further than women and no group lose its

standing more in the work force since 2008 than women, who have disappeared in massive numbers. >> i want to give you a comment. i know chris has a long journey. this race has not been called, but two of the battleground states are both hotly contested and have gone to president obama so far, and it does look as though cbs as well as cnn are going to project said elizabeth warren will win the seat over the first termer, scott brown, the republican who won the seat after ted kennedy died of brain cancer. if you want to share your final thoughts, reflect on what laura said common and and where you

see we -- on what laura said, and where you see us going. he has projected 47%. a number we are familiar with. >> are you asking me or him? >> you. >> taking off from what laura said, i felt this election depends on two things. one is the changing demographics of the united states, and the second is whether government has any role in the redistribution of wealth at all, and those are the issues that are really at stake, and i think part of what laura was saying really does speak to the changes of demographics and the issues of power that are contained in that discussion, so for those reasons, i think a obama victory has the potential

of providing the foundation or space many of us operate in, but i do not think anyone should have any illusions about this, because we have to keep in mind again that obama was elected in 2008 and running again to preserve the system. he was not elected as a hero of the working class. given we are not in a position to advance the working class, what do we do? that is where i agree with chris. we progressive we have a longer- term strategy that is not to show up at every four years at the time of the presidential election when we wave the flag. it is about building slowly. the punch line that any third-

party movement or realignment will go nowhere if it does not have a sizeable base within black america. it is not going to happen. that is what many do not want to grapple with. >> let me say one more thing. we have just heard cbs and cnn calling the massachusetts race for a elizabeth warren, and they are projecting minnesota for president obama. >> the system collapsed. the system is not sustainable. limitless expansion, and we are seeing it as we mind the dirtier and more difficult sources of energy. it is headed downhill. the election of 2008 was in many

ways a referendum, and the pollsters understood it, that there was a significant amount of the population that wanted serious change. obama did not deliver it. i do not know what his intentions were, and i think it is almost irrelevant. we hdergone a corporate and it is over. obama serves those centers of power. on the issue of the rise of racism, which is very true -- i just came from alabama and was in montgomery, and you go into montgomery, there is a giant confederate flag now put up for the sons of the confederacy, and this is a new phenomenon, as you , peoplenchise people commonl

retreat into these frightening ethnic enclaves, and they create a mythic narrative about themselves. a year ago there was a re- enactment of the swearing of jefferson davis, and his inauguration is a holiday alongside martin luther king day in alabama along with the founding of the confederacy. with robert e. lee day and martin luther king day, it is insane. all of this is new, and that kind of despair fuels that kind of intolerance. the question is if we continue to support a system that does not function, that is paralyzed, yet purports to we in fact for g those values, and i would argue that we are not. i never holding the democratic

party accountable, we have, in fact, done that. it is a matter of strategy in a matter of what not works, and what is essentially not working is a policy of silence and capitulation, engaged in every four years since ronald reagan. >> i want to thank you both for being with us in this six-hour election special. it is 10:00 eastern standard time. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org. i am amy goodman, and pennsylvania is being called for president obama, and now what -- fox news and another are calling another for obama. elizabeth warren has held massachusetts seat.

a republican candidate has gotten a senate seat in texas. in a closely watched race in indiana, it is projected in the republican will be beaten. he is notorious for saying he opposes abortion in cases of rape because pregnancies from rape are something that god intended. and joseph kennedy the third won a decisive victory over a republican. meanwhile, voters in massachusetts approved a law allowing people to use marijuana for medical purposes. jesse jackson jr. is the projected winner of his illinois house race, according to cnn. polls closed in iowa, montana, nevada, and utah. they remain open in about half a dozen states. cbs is calling new hampshire for president obama, and nbc is saying he will win in new mexico.

in the battleground states, president obama has a 1% lead in florida, according to cnn. join us online tonight. the discussion on facebook, and join in on twitter. also, for the first time, you can listen to our show live on your iphone or your android or ipad tonight. and there is a projected winner in ohio by cnn, beating joe the plumber. >> his name is neither joe, nor is he a plumber. >> alan west is in a very tight race down in florida. he is a congressman who, you know, on the ledge, basically a

war criminal for his role in the iraq war and the alleged abuse of people in iraq. he is completely out in some territory in some of his statements. i generally do not like to speak in slang terms about member of congress, but he truly is kind of a not. -- nut. he is to the right of everybody else in congress. it is amazing that he is there. i was also looking at the ryan race. it looks like paul ryan had a healthy lead to keep his house seat in wisconsin if he does lose in his bid to become vice president of the united states. the other thing, virginia, ohio, florida. romney has been forecast to win all three of them. he cannot lose any of them.

right now, obama it is ahead. virginia is still too close to call. >> i have heard right now that msnbc is doing a lot of celebrating. >> president obama is trailing mitt romney by only one percentage point in one area with about 80% of the vote counted. president obama loss to the county by eight percentage points to john mccain in 2008. that is chillicothe, ohio. also, the latest news, nbc news is reporting that mitt romney has won montana, and in utah, romney wins. orrin hatch moines the senate race. -- wins the senate race.

and there was a rematch in 2011 when the democrat defeated a businessman by less than three points in a special election. he is running for a full term and needs to avoid being linked to the president in a very anti- obama state. it looks like he has just one, so that is the latest news we have. the council at the justice center at new york university's school of law, she has worked on community-based voter registration, voter registration modernization, and restoring the right to vote to individuals with past criminal convictions, and she has been staffing, what should we call it, the voter intimidation

hotline, and we are going to go to her right now. so, talk about what you have seen today. >> it has been a very interesting day. the nerve center of the election hot line, a national non-partisan call center that excess calls from voters in all 50 states. we were in manhattan, but there are call centers throughout the country, and the bottom line, unfortunately, is that it was not a pretty day. we had some successes, and the triumph of the voter, i would like to talk about new york. >> here, in new york. >> that is right. that is correct. governor cuomo signed a fairly

last minute executive order that allowed voters to cast provisional ballots in any county if they were displaced by hurricane sandy, and as a result of that, we basically ran out of the paper ballots. there are at least 65 to my knowledge, if not know, that have been without paper ballots for hours. they are standing in line, determined to vote. they have every legal right to do so. when i left the call center, we had folks in line, saying they would not leave. >> we just have this late- breaking news. there is a projected winner in the missouri race. claire mccaskill in the senate race in missouri. and if you could just talk about the significance of claire mccaskill for a minute.

>> her opponent was the man who talked about, he was the guy that refused to back down when every single visible means of report in the -- support in the republican party was running the other way. >> did they not say they would not give him another penny? >> yes, and then they gave him thousands of dollars. in the conversation we began about the demographic debates, with the reality that it looks as if the worst of the worst has been beaten back tonight, at least in the races that have been called so far. some really great fighters have been rewarded for their

courageous stand. there were people out there fighting the mortgage foreclosures, demanding from thei banks that they produce mortgage documents before foreclosing on people. a tremendous fighter for lgbt rights, and elizabeth warren, taking on the banks. i think we are going to see a lot of that tonight. there is the big picture, and then there is the smaller picture. i think it will take a while to determine the enduring legacy of this evening. akin is huge, and it will be interesting to see what happens next. mike huckabee backing him until

the very and, and to be fair, he had a point. they were calling more about todd hagin, -- akin, but their party was holding very similar views. for rape or incest, at the very same time they were doing this. it will be interesting to see whether anything changes at the level of the party or if this is actually going to be cast as a rotten apple, when, in fact, he is not such an out liar. >> earlier, we spoke to nina

turner, and we will go back to ohio, which has not been called yet, to dennis kucinich. congress member, welcome. we just heard that joe the plumber has been beaten. he is neither jairo nor the plumber. -- neither joe or a plumber. @e you think things are going and then where you are headed. >> this is pretty much expected from the primary on. as far as ohio, it still could be close. the president obama margin in one county needs to approach his margin over mitt romney, the margin he had in 2004, rather, against mccain.

he needs to approach that. if he has that, he will win ohio easily. if he starts to shrink in that county, it will be a battle. if it goes below 220,000, anything could happen. so i think he has the edge. it looks like he will win, but you cannot count it yet, and i do not think many people have counted it just yet. >> and what are your plans? we have been having a discussion tonight on where is the democratic party and what would an obama victory mean. you have certainly strata of the inside and outside, perhaps, most of your lives. you are going to move outside of congress right now, and where do you see yourself sitting in? >> first of all, one does not

need a significant -- a certificates of election to stay relevant. there are matters relating to our country. maintaining a presence in washington, concerns of people around the country. our politics in the country have changed to where people recognize that you need a place to stand after 16 years in congress. i have that place in this country, so i plan to continue to stay active politically, through my website, a political action group, and the policy group, it will be composed of many people who have worked with me over the years, and i am still going to be around, and i am always grateful for a chance to be on democracy now!, and if

people want to go to the website, they can be involved in our next efforts. >> congressman, this is jeremy scahill, and with you not being in the house anymore, there is basically not another democrat that fills the space that you did, particularly on some of our liberties issues -- on civil liberties issues. the last time i was in washington, we were talking about the bill after it became clear that president obama authorized the killing of the u.s. citizen who had not been charged with any crime and had not been indicted of any crime. of course, he was killed in a strike in 2011 along with another u.s. citizen, who had also not been indicted, his family had been told by the fbi he had not committed any crime, and then later, the 16-year-old son was killed while having

dinner with cousins and friends, @and there is no idea as to why this american citizen was killed. this is obama authorizing killing american citizens. you put forth legislation that did not mention him by name, but the president does not have the right to unilaterally authorized the assassination. only six of your colleagues signed on to that legislation. to me, that is one of the enduring symbols of your legacy in congress, the fact that you were one of only half a dozen members of congress, not a single senator, to simply state on the record that american citizens have the right not to be assassinated by their own government without due process. what is your sense of how much damage this administration has done to those core causes you have fought for so long?

>> first of all, thank you. secondly, what is amazing is we are in an america where we have to defend the rights of americans to be free from assassination by their own country and to be freed from killing by their own government. i expect that the obama administration will continue the policies of drone strikes, which have killed hundreds of innocent people, affecting thousands of individuals who were just determined to be combatants often because they happen to be the wrong age. this is morally repugnant and morally depraved, this drone strike, and whether you are a democrat or a republican, it does not matter. when politics trump's morality, we are in big trouble, so i have

no problems whatsoever in challenging this administration, the bush administration, the clinton administration or any other administration whenever i felt the honor of our country, the heart of our country was at risk. the drone situation is abominable. by the way, we do have a briefing in washington on we are going to be bringing in people who could be considered experts on civil liberties and other matters, but our country is changing. drones are now being used domestically. how long is it before some local police department uses a drone to emperor sent been killed -- to intercept and kill a suspect? it is happening now overseas, and we are committing acts of war in other countries without

the knowledge or consent of congress. we have got a problem here. no matter who wins tonight, we still have a problem. >> finally, congressman, i spoke with you at the 2008 democratic national convention, and i asked you why you are with the democrats because you are certainly outside the mainstream of this sort of establishment democrats, but also, everywhere i go when i speak, people wonder why dennis kucinich does not run as a third-party candidate for president. is that something you would consider down the line in 2016, taking this on with the green party or with some kind of a configuration of you, the libertarians, or others? would you ever consider a third- party run? >> let me say -- >> i think a lot of people would want to know. >> i will give you the answer,

not the answer you want. there needs to be a third force in american politics. right now, there is not much of a difference between the two parties. a football game fought between the 40-yard lines. there was not much difference between the candidates. i am a democrat, but that does not mean that i drank the kool- aid. i am aware of what is going on, and i do not hesitate to provide a challenge inside the party went need be. whether the time comes for me to step outside the party system and to challenge it, we will see, but does that need to happen by somebody? of course it does. no question. we may be at the point in american history where people may be more open to an idea of a

third force in politics, and i will certainly do what i need to do to make sure people know that the democratic party needs to be broader. jobs and social and economic welfare. >> well, speaking of third-party candidates, and i just want to say that it is projected mike pence will win the governorship. romney has won another electoral votes. senator jesse jackson, as we said earlier, is reaching his congress seat. we are joined by the green party presidential candidate, and she has just entered the studios in washington, and i am wondering, dr. stein, a doctor arrested twice in her presidential race this time around, i think it was your first time being

arrested, once trying to get into a debate, the second presidential debate. your thoughts? what would you recommend to congressman kucinich, who will believe in the house in a few minutes? >> the first arrest was next to fannie mae in philadelphia, standing with two families who were being unjustly evicted, the victims of predatory lending. they were being unjustly evicted by fannie mae, and that was actually the first arrest for me. >> so you were arrested three times in your presidential race. >> that is right. for congress member kucinich? >> yes, and it is wonderful to be here today, and thank you for your expansive and informative coverage on election night.

representative kucinich, acknowledging what an unfortunate state we are in, that there really is not a substantial different -- difference between the two candidates. we very much are at a pivot point, a tipping point politically, and i am delighted to hear him saying that. i think his insights and his vision have so outstripped his party for a long time. it is a wonderful to hear that you sort of have a similar perspective that we do and that you acknowledge that we are in a real transitional moment, and i would love to continue this conversation about how we can build that independent political force, because it is clear that the american people are being

thrown under the bus, that there is no exit strategy being provided, not by mitt romney, certainly, and not by barack obama, who is essentially saying when stay the course, things are getting better. it is true if you are a ceo. if you are in the top 1% or 2%, things are getting better, but if you are an average american, things continue to spiral off. the undermining of wages, the skyrocketing of health care, and higher education costs. an entire generation of young people that are basically an indentured servants, facing a 50% unemployment and underemployment rates. the congressman himself has been such a, you know, outstanding proponent of the real solutions we have. our campaign has actually brought those solutions into this election, and i have to say

it is wonderful being supported by a party that shares this agenda, a party that does not want to silence these solutions but actually wants to advance them, that will create the jobs, to end unemployment, to create 25 million jobs, put a halt to the climate crisis, and jump- start the economy that makes wars for oil obsolete, the party that wants to bail out the students, not the banks, as we undertake yet another quantitative easing for the banks, $40 billion per month. we should be spending met with ending student debt rather than dealing out the banks again, and bringing medicare for all to everyone. that will take the place of austerity. we can accomplish the same savings, the trillions of dollars over the coming decades, through medicare for all, instead of having to spread the

basic safety programs. it will be a big wake-up moment. i think it already is a big way, , but going forward, when the president gives the thumbs-up for the keystone pipeline, which he is almost certain to do because he has already built the southern part of it, when the president accomplishes that grant bargained and actually cuts social security, medicare, and medicaid, as he told "the des moines register," saying he would do it in a year, we will see people fleeing from the democratic party, and coming into the green party, which is the new force, and i will make one last comment. common dream released a poll of their readership. it certainly is not a statistical pull by any means, but it really says something on the relatively progressive

democrats for the most part that are part of their readership go on record, where their support for our campaign increases going down the age spectrum. overall, president obama has 77% support. our campaign has 18% support, which is remarkable considering how we have come out of the woodwork very quickly, but as you go down the age spectrum, the support for the campaign increases, and once you are at the 35-year-old and a lower level, 35 years of age and younger, we actually become the most supported, the no. 1 favorite campaign among that younger age group, so i think it is safe to say that that politics of fear that has kept us to walk into this dreadful political situation now, they're red and blue proposition, that

politics of fear that the rich everything we are afraid of, it is beginning to age out, and we will see young people, who really are the victim of predatory student loan situations, the biggest victims of the and it's one of crisis, the real victims of the climate negligence, the climate criminality practiced by corporate parties, young people are really taking that on the chin. they are standing up with the politics of courage for the solutions that we need, and part of the solutions that we need is the politics that we need. we need green solutions. we need green politics. >> i want to thank you, dr. jules stein, -- jill stein, and, congress member kucinich, as you listen to her, your views not so

far from her, and we have less than a minute, but what would you say?@@ >> i want to thank her for her courage in running for president. having been on the campaign trail, i understand the demands of it, and i want to wish you well. and for those who cast their vote for you are casting their vote for an america which is yet to be born but which will someday be here, and i also want to thank you, amy, for always staying on top of these things and providing the opportunity to be heard. have fun this evening. i am going to keep an eye on what is going on in ohio, and we will talk soon. >> we will do that, as well. >> we will do that, as well.

narrator: he changed the world with speed and grace. cosby: the history of jesse owens,